Emma's Apology
by queerfemme
Summary: A generally cute Swan Queen adventure beginning in "Manhattan" and offering alternative solutions to deal with Cora and heal Rumpel, in which Emma apologizes (FINALLY) to Regina and Henry goads Emma into confessing her love for the Queen.
1. Prologue

_This is a little__ stream of consciousness that came to my head after watching the promo for "Manhattan," about the beautiful complexities of possibilities for a diverse range of family and parental structures, the nuances of love, some explanatory thoughts for Emma and Regina's seemingly rocky road lately. Swan Queen forever!_

_Set soon after Neal/Bae and Emma reunite._

* * *

He'd explained everything. August; the box with Rumpel-style magic; how he hadn't known she was the Savior when they'd met, but once he knew, he simply had to do what he did.

To give her her best chance.

_Pfft. Heard that before_.

But she believed him, because she'd learned to do that sort of thing after Henry bit into that damned turnover, and because maybe, just maybe, she'd always wanted the sperm contributor of such a great kid to be kind of great himself.

Not trusting her with control over her own life - abandoning her instead of trusting her with all the pertinent information - didn't quite square up with her idea of _great_. But despite herself, she understood why she did it.

He'd tried to convince her to let him into Henry's life.

"Ems, a year ago you were just the girl that gave birth to him. Now look at you, you'd do anything for him. Why won't you give me a chance?"

It didn't help that she couldn't stop remembering both of them popping out of the backseat of the car, scaring the shit out of her while she drove.

But that wasn't what was most prominent in her mind as she scoffed at how he called her a "girl" instead of a "woman."

_You're Henry's birth mother?_

_Hi._

Regina.

Neal coming into Henry's life Emma could... maybe get used to. _Maybe_. The kid's philosophy seemed to be, "the more parents, the merrier." Emma could live with that, no matter how much looking into Neal's face pained her and awoke a deep compulsion to hit something, namely said face.

Nothing wrong with an alternative family structure. Hell, with Red having eaten her boyfriend, Snow calling her husband by the name of his murdered twin brother, her parents being her own age, and, oh yeah, being in love with a woman who had lived three decades more than her body suggested - whoa, wait, did she just - _in love with_ - no, no, no.

_Yes._

She forced her mind back to the present and informed Neal that since he was obviously accompanying them back to Storybrooke anyway - the whole Gold's son thing, which was also super weird (Henry was certainly getting a shitton of new grandparents lately, but seemed to be taking the whole thing in stride, which was more than she could say for herself) - they could figure things out as they went.

Which was really, of course, an excuse for her to shut him up so she could think.

Regina, Regina. If Neal expected to waltz into their lives and take Henry from Regina - the way, Emma realized with an unpleasant lurch in her stomach, she herself had threatened to do - well, then, he had quite another thing coming.

Which felt weird - the whole defending Regina's right to parent Henry thing - because hadn't Emma shouted in Regina's face merely days ago that Henry was _her_ son and Regina would never be with him again? Something she still was desperate to apologize for.

To apologize, to get down on her knees and worship the woman she'd hurt, out of heartbreak, out of fear, whom she had run away from - out of town with Gold - out of shame, out of desperate terror that she wouldn't be forgiven. To explain that she only took Henry with her because she knew Cora was back in town, so out of town was the safest place for him, and anyway, she wanted Regina to worry about protecting herself, not having to worry about keeping their son safe, too.

To explain that even if Henry wanted Neal as part of his life - Emma had to concede it was only fair to allow him this, especially as she had been granted the opportunity to come to be her son's parent after ten years of absence - it would only be over her dead body that he did so at the expense of Regina's relationship with Henry.

_'Over your dead body,' hm? Fighting words. And what makes you suddenly so strident about my right to parent Henry, Ms. Swan?_

_Because I'm in love with you, Regina, and you raised our son alone, and I'll be damned if anyone ever takes him away from you again._

Silence.

_Would you care to repeat that first part, Ms. - Emma?_

Oh, so she'd said it out loud. Henry would be proud. Neal would be terrified.

Good.

_I'm in love with you, Regina Mills. Let's raise our kid together. If you'll forgive me. If you want me. Neal can work his way into it if Henry wants him to, but you and I - I - I'm not good at this, I just - I love y -_

A kiss. Passionate; deep; slow; salacious; loving; adoring; fulfilling. Forgiving.

_I love you, too, Emma Swan._

And that's how it would go. Or something like that.

"Come on, kid. We've gotta go home. I have a lot of things I need to tell your mom."


	2. Chapter 1

"So you're going to tell her you love her, right?"

"Come again, kid?"

Even the wind seemed to shush itself as Neal gaped and Henry smiled up expectantly at Emma.

"You said you have a lot of things to tell my mom. I'm guessing one of those things is that you love her. Why else would you have believed her when no one else did?"

He swayed to and fro on the balls of his feet innocently, his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes sparkling.

"Whoa, wait a second, Em. You love _the Evil Queen?_" Neal chimed in.

"Hey, whoa, I never said - Henry, you're - I didn't say I - "

"Oh my god, you _do_!" Neal ogled as Emma squirmed and tried to give her son her best glare. She failed.

"And why would you think something like _that_, kid?" she queried, desperately trying to sound nonchalant and rolling her eyes in Neal's direction.

"Why else would you have saved her so many times after the curse broke?" That smug little smirk reminded her too much of Regina's. It was... _annoying_.

"Uh, because you asked me to," she offered as though Henry had few comprehension skills.

_Problem is, he has too damn many comprehension skills_.

"Yeah, but I don't remember you objecting. I also don't remember asking you to save her from that fire."

"It just happened! Anyone would've done that! What was I gonna do, leave her to die?" She hoped they couldn't notice the rising note in her voice or the reddening of her cheeks. They noticed.

"She had just killed Graham and was threatening to take your only stable connections to Storybrooke away from you," he reminded her, that note of Regina-esque superiority ringing in his voice. It irritated her to no end that she found it achingly adorable in both of them. In Regina, though, it was adorable in the smoldering and infuriatingly sexy kind of way.

"Alright, whatever, kid." Flustered, she ambled over to the ship's edge.

"_Whatever?_ Really, Em? That's the only response you've got left? The kid's right, you _do_ love her!" Neal didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Neither did Emma.

They watched her fists tighten at her sides. She turned, composed. "Don't you have a ship to steer?" she asked scathingly.

Neal mocked-glared at her before exchanging a conspiratorial glance with Henry, who giggled. Emma groaned and stomped down below decks to check on Gold. Perhaps he'd be less irritating company, anyway.

* * *

"How's it feel?" she asked Gold, plopping down next to him and absentmindedly fluffing his pillow for him.

"How do you imagine it would feel, Ms. Swan?" His tone stung her, and she really wasn't in the mood.

"Look, do you want company, or - " She half rose, giving him the opportunity to stop her.

"My apologies, Ms. Swan. Your company is welcome." Rumpelstiltskin grimaced, as though it was harder for him to admit this than it was for him to feel poison coursing through him.

A not unpleasant silence arose between them as they simply experienced each others' company, Emma realizing - not for the first time - that the two had deep similarities.

"You realize, of course, that you may be required to use magic upon our return to Regina's little town," he said casually, after several minutes of unbroken quiet.

"I'm not planning on it, Gold, but I imagine I might have to, I guess, yeah." She thought of the confessions she wanted to make to Regina, and hoped they would be enough to avert a war. She found herself glad her companion couldn't read minds: at least, not outside of Storybrooke.

"Then you should know, Ms. Swan, that - "

"I know, I know." She held up her hands in a fair imitation of him. "All magic comes with a price!"

To her surprise, he grinned bitterly in grudging admiration of her childish impersonation.

"While this is true, Ms. Swan, I was in fact going to give you a more practical lesson. You must know that conjuring magic is not an intellectual endeavor. You must not _think_ when using magic. Rather, you must feel."

She blinked. He shook his head and painfully tried to sit up further. She braced him by the shoulder and readjusted the pillows beneath him. He continued.

"Magic is about emotion. When you use it, you must think about who you are protecting. Think too much, and you will fail. But feel too much? Oh, Ms. Swan, there is no such thing as feeling too much when you use magic."

"That's why Regina's so powerful," Emma murmured. To her surprise, Rumpel nodded softly, closing his eyes and drifting into a fitful sleep.

"Indeed she is," he whispered, falling into his much needed rest and leaving Emma alone to her thoughts.

* * *

The rest of the trip back to Storybrooke was uneventful, save for Henry's fascination with sailing a pirate ship. It gave Emma the creeps, knowing the misogynist to whom it belonged. She was lost, anyway, in her own thoughts, her desperation to get back to Regina.

When they had safely deposited Gold in his shop and everyone was up in arms about "stopping Regina and Cora" - _there we go again, not believing in her _- Emma stopped at the partition that served as a door into Gold's back room. Mary Ma - Sn - her mother, was exchanging words with Gold and was clearly unhappy, Gold having revealed something in the cabinet that was something other than a blanket for warmth.

She accosted her mother soon after the brunette left the room, her face glazed and her entire body moving as those through molasses.

"What's this about a deadly candle, Sn - Mom?" She knew her use of the term of familial endearment would calm Mary Margaret and make her more likely to share with her and listen to her.

Snow looked stunned that Emma had overheard the conversation, just as she looked stunned at life in general, at the very air she was breathing.

"Emma, what did you hear? No, no, it doesn't matter, you wouldn't understand."

"Try me." The blonde's irritation at having been unable to contact Regina since coming back to Storybrooke was beginning to bleed through.

And her mother did try her.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, after her mom went dazedly home with Charming, Emma left - saying she was going to pick up Henry from Ruby's - and sought refuge at the Sheriff's station, leaning nervously on her desk. She dialed Regina's cell, determined to get through.

"You have reached the voicemail of Mayor Mills. Please leave a succinct message with pertinent contact information, and I will get back to you as soon as my duties allow." Somewhat immaturely, Emma mimed the voicemail message that she knew by heart, a mix between consternation and amusement coursing through her veins.

"Regina, it's Emma. I know you're getting this message. Listen, we're back in Storybrooke and Henry needs your help. I know Mary Margaret told you that earlier and it was just a ruse to get you to talk to her, but this isn't. Please Regina, call me. Or meet me at the Sheriff's station. Alone. It's important. This is our kid. Call me... Bye."

She stared at her phone idly for exactly three minutes. About two minutes in, she got antsy and fidgeted so much that at first she wasn't sure if her phone was vibrating or if she was just moving around so much that it seemed to be. But when the screen lit up with - for the first time in too long - Regina's name, simply listed as "Regina," on her caller ID, Emma grinned nervously.

"Regina," she answered, hoping her voice didn't sound as desperate as she felt.

"Are you alone, Ms. Swan?" Ever the voice of business.

"Yeah, I - "

And the silent Sheriff's station was suddenly illuminated by a purple haze, as the figure of Regina Mills appeared before her.


	3. Chapter 2

"_Are you alone, Ms. Swan?" Ever the voice of business. _

"_Yeah, I - "_

_And the silent Sheriff's station was suddenly illuminated by a purple haze, as the figure of Regina Mills appeared before her. _

_This is the part where you get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness_, Emma's annoying brain cued. But her instincts kicked in and told her do to otherwise.

"How do I know you're not Cora?" She regretted her decision to ask instantly, as Regina's face grew dark and hateful. After a moment of searching the blonde's open face, however, Regina relaxed her gaze - without dropping her guard - perhaps recognizing and even respecting the prudence of the blonde's question.

"The first word you said to me was "hi," in response to my asking whether you were Henry's birth mother. You touched my arm when Henry was trapped in the mine and I pulled away from you. You looked your parents in the face and told that you wouldn't allow me to die immediately after the Wraith attacked me for the first time. I said, "you did it" when you kissed Henry and broke the Curse," Regina recited, as though answering a question a teacher had posed to her. Emma wondered what school was like in fairy tale land, and what Regina would look like in a private school uniform. She shook her head almost violently. _Inappropriate, Swan._

She raised her eyebrows appraisingly at Emma's slightly opened mouth. The blonde, for her part, marveled - after she rid her head of naughty thoughts - at the intimacy of the details Regina chose to relate to prove who she was, the accuracy with which she remembered events others would have forgotten, and the utter detachment with which she recited them. _Might she love me, but be afraid to admit it? Cora apparently killed her True Love once, so she might just be scared..._

"Satisfied, Ms. Swan?" the brunette deadpanned.

Emma nodded. And gulped.

"I have quite a bit to say, and it all relates to Henry needing you, so please Regina, take a break from being your snarky self and just listen to me, okay?"

Regina's gaze was frigid, her arms crossed defensively in front of her, every pore of her body radiating anger. She might have respected Emma's caution regarding Cora - and let's face it, she wouldn't have trusted Cora with information about Henry, either - but this was still the woman who, last time they'd met, had screamed that Henry wasn't her son and she wasn't going to get anywhere near him. This was the woman who had had faith in her, then broken everything she'd begun to believe in. This was the woman who had broken her hea - _no_. None of that foolishness.

_Love is weakness, Regina_.

Emma took the cold silence as acquiescence and plowed on, having rehearsed this many times in her head. She took an entirely too-deep breath and plowed into what most directly related to Henry first. Regina's attention - and temper - was more likely to be held that way.

"First, Rumpelstiltskin is apparently Henry's grandfather. I didn't know, and neither did - did Neal - or Bae, Rumpel's son - but there you have it. And Rumpel's dying - Hook caught up with him and I think Henry would be pretty traumatized if he died. We managed to get him back to Storybrooke, but he needs magic to save him. I think you should save him. I know you can. Henry would be so grateful, and it would go a long way toward mending your relationship with him."

_So far, so good. _If Regina was surprised about Rumpel's relationship to Henry, or concerned that she was dying, she didn't show it. She registered nothing on her face except a dim spark of recognition that Emma was right: using magic as an act of healing towards one of her worst enemies would surely go a long way in Henry's book. _No pun intended._

"And anyway, if you don't agree to save him, we have another problem. Gold manipulated Mary Margaret into this thing - she's rambling on about saving his life by taking Cora's, with some kind of magic candle thing. To do it, she needs to curse her heart then put it back into her body. But here's the thing, Regina: what if we do that without a curse? What if we just put Cora's heart back into her? Wouldn't she be able to love you, then? To _genuinely _love you? I think that'd be better for everyone, especially Henry. Then he can have a real family, without bloodshed."

Tears swam into Emma's eyes as she watched the grief wrack Regina's face when she tried to imagine a Cora that truly loved her, when she realized that Emma knew what Regina herself had been forced to bury away: the knowledge that Cora may _want_ to love her, but did not. _But could she?_ Pleased with herself that she had planted this idea so strongly in Regina's head, Emma plowed on.

"And speaking of family. Regina, Neal - Bae - whatever, the guy who got me pregnant with Henry - he's Henry's biological dad, sure, and I think he deserves the same chance to be in Henry's life that I do."

For the first time, anger flared across Regina's face. Emma knew she was reaching a danger zone and quickly retreated.

"But he is _not _Henry's parent. _You _are. I am, too, though. But I need you to know that I only took him out of Storybrooke because I knew Cora was here, and I had to leave anyway, and taking him away for a little while was the only way I could know he was safe. And I wanted you to worry about protecting yourself, and not have to split your energies also protecting Henry. Any anway, we couldn't find you, so I didn't know what else to do."

"Yes, you looked _so_ hard," Regina began scathingly, but Emma noted her tone's lack of usual bite - it was probably the fact that she had called her Henry's mom - and cut her back off.

"Uh uh, I'm not done, lady." Regina raised a skeptical eyebrow, but perhaps was intrigued, never having heard Emma _ramble _so.

"Regina, _you_ raised him, and Henry found _me_. That made me his mom. That and me carrying him for 9 months. But I need to you know that I will never let Neal replace you in Henry's life, and I will never take Henry away from you again. You raised our kid alone, Regina, and I'll be damned if I let anyone take him away from you again."

Regina raised her chin defensively, no doubt remembering Emma's parting words to the older woman, outside her mansion. It felt so long ago, it felt like seconds ago. Emma's heart skipped a beat, knowing she was about to strip naked before the most powerful woman she'd ever known. _No_, she thought idly, _actually stripping naked would be easier than this. _She thought of Henry's excitement when he wheedled Emma about loving Regina, and found the courage - and the humility - to stumble on.

"Regina, I'm so sorry. I never should have said those things. I should have continued to believe you, like I continued to believe Mary Margaret even when all the evidence was stacked against her. I should have trusted my instincts, not some damned manipulated images and memories. I am so, _so _sorry for losing my faith in you, Regina. You deserve so much more than that. You are Henry's mother and always will be. You did a damn better job than I ever could have hoped to, and I'm hopeless raising him without you. I don't know how to comfort him like you do and I don't know what he needs to eat or how he needs to study or whatever else parents need to know. And I'm learning, but I'd love to learn with you, _from_ you. Together. If you'll have me."

She ignored the hot tears that were burning her throat and tried desperately to focus on the tears that were welling in Regina's eyes, the way her full lips had dropped open, the way her arms had dropped to her sides and her fingers were clenching and unclenching unsurely, nervously, like a jaguar ready to go for the kill but unsure if it wants to. Or if it needs to.

"Ms. Swan, I'm not quite sure what you're hoping to accom - "

"I'm not trying to accomplish anything but honesty and what's best for our kid, Regina. I should never have lost faith in you, and I just - I want you to know that - that I only said those things because I - I _wanted_ - I _wanted _so badly to believe you were changing, Regina, and when it looked like you weren't, I... I was devastated and heartbroken and... and I lashed out and... and I know you know what that's like, Regina, because that's how you've lived your life for so long..."

Regina blinked, drawing in long, slow a breath heavily, wondering at the insight Emma just displayed into her and finding herself strangely moved rather than repulsed and angered by it. Were those tears in the blonde's eyes? Certainly her voice was cracking. She never took the younger woman to be an actress - _not enough subtlety_. Could this all be genuine? It could all be a plot to get her to destroy Cora and save Rumpel... but she had warned her of a threat to her mother, and she was never a fan of Gold's...

And why was her heart beating so rapidly? She was pretty sure the blonde's green eyes were dilating as she looked at her.. Were hers doing the same?

_Love is weakness, Regina._

"... Regina, I... shit, I'm not good at this, but I... I love you, Regina Mills, damnit, I love you, and I don't want to watch Cora make you suffer more than she already has. I know she tries to love you, but she can't because she doesn't have her heart, and I know you just want her to love you like you love Henry, and I just... I just don't want to see you hurt anymore, and I want us to be a family, and I know I've really fucked things up, but I am so fucking sorry, and I - "

_No. It's strength._

_Then love again. _

And suddenly - as in her day dream back in Manhattan - Emma couldn't breathe, her mouth having been captured by Regina's full lips, the older woman's tongue seeking and gaining entry into her dry mouth, moisture exchanging places between their lips, Regina's hands snaking through Emma's hair and Emma's hands reaching around to pull the brunette's body closer into hers, a groan escaping both of their lips as Emma's tongue traveled down to caress the soft sensuality of Regina's exposed throat, tasting the exquisite tang of apple cider and a trace of vanilla chai.

Regina's hands slid down Emma's body, tugging at her belt loops to connect their hips. Overcome with desires that had pent up for over a year, Emma spun Regina around without breaking the connection between their mouths, skillfully swiping her desk clear with one hand before slipping her hands under Regina's ass to lift her easily onto her desk. A moan of ecstasy escaped the older woman as she pulled back to look into the younger woman's eyes, which were dark with lust and enlivened with hope.

"I love you, too, Emma Swan," Regina whispered, her voice thick with desire and sincerity, Daniel's wish for her to love again flooding through her veins, resistance to loving the blonde broken down by her restored faith in her, by her sensitivity about Regina's past, about her mother, about her motivations, about her life, about her loves, about her losses.

She swept her mouth into another burning kiss as their lips both curved upward into tearfully blissful smiles, bringing her hands down on Emma's hips to pull her in, eliminating the space between their bodies as Emma ground her hips inside Regina's open legs, nearly identical groans of pleasure escaping both women.

Neither one noticed the puff of purple smoke behind them.


	4. Chapter 3

_She swept her mouth into another burning kiss as their lips both curved upward into tearfully blissful smiles, bringing her hands down on Emma's hips to pull her in, eliminating the space between their bodies as Emma ground her hips inside Regina's open legs, nearly identical groans of pleasure escaping both women._

_Neither one noticed the puff of purple smoke behind them._

"Wench!"

Cora's shout startled them apart, but Emma remained steadfastly in front of Regina, her chin jutted upwards in defiance and her arms held out protectively.

The older woman laughed a cold laugh. "Are you really so foolish as to think I would hurt my daughter? There's really no need for such _gallantry_, dear girl. But really, I would like a word alone with her before I deal with you. You can wait outside."

And with a swish of Cora's wrist, Emma found herself on the streets of Storybrooke, right outside her office.

* * *

Her first instinct was to run back up to the office, but she knew it would be futile in the long run.

Regina had kissed her, had said she loved her - her body and mind were still spinning quite out of control - which means, Emma surmised, that she would be okay if Emma followed through on the plans she had outlined to Regina.

The blonde set off at a run.

* * *

"Mother," Regina said evenly, desperately trying to keep the trembling out of her voice.

"Regina, darling," Cora began warmly, but the younger woman knew what lay underneath her syrupy tones. She tried desperately to mask her urge to vomit in terror.

"What were you doing with that foolish girl? Surely you don't _love_ her?" Cora's tone was calm, but Regina felt the danger in it.

"Come now, Mother, do you really think I've learned nothing from you?" Regina's voice was as cool and collected as her mother's. She only hoped it was convincing. "Ms. Swan brought me here under the pretense of being concerned about Henry. She proposed an alliance, and in so doing, she confessed her _love _to me. I decided to take advantage of her attraction. It will only make our work easier in the long run." She attempted a wicked, patently Mayor Mills smile.

"Oh, my daughter," Cora advanced on her, still positioned on the desk, but legs closed now. "I'm so proud of you. You've done so well. But I'm afraid you still haven't perfected the art of lying. Not to me, anyway."

Cora's eyes were deadly, and Regina saw no way out.

* * *

Breathless, Emma reached Regina's not-so-secret vault. Yanking open drawer upon chest upon drawer, she finally found what she was searching for: Cora's heart, glowing strongly in its box.

_Cora's not stupid. Regina has love written all over her face_, she thought, scared but also immensely proud and still quite giddy. _I'll never get back there in time._

Rumpelstiltskin's words cascaded over her. _Magic is about emotion. You must think about who you are protecting_.

Closing her eyes and visualizing the shocked look of someone who hasn't been loved in far too long in Regina's eyes the moment before they kissed, and the glassy, ecstatic look in her chocolate eyes when she told her - sounding more like a teenager than any mayor or queen ever had - that she loved her, Emma let herself simply _feel_.

* * *

Moments later, she was standing behind Cora, back in the Sheriff's station. Not a moment too soon, it seemed, as Cora was advancing on a very wide-eyed Regina.

Plunging her hand into Cora's chest, Emma's wrist felt oddly contracted, the pressure of Cora's flesh kneading her flesh unpleasantly. She felt rather than knew when her heart was in place, and yanked her now empty hand out, wringing it unnecessarily to rid it of the odd feeling of having just placed a heart back inside someone's chest through their back.

"Mother?" she heard Regina ask, hope riding in her voice as a radiant smile spread over her face.

"_Regina_," Cora breathed in a voice neither Emma or Regina had ever heard before, and the blonde stepped back happily as mother and daughter embraced, Regina sobbing over Cora's shoulder and mouthing a whole-hearted "thank you" to her new lover as she did so.


	5. Chapter 4

_"_Regina_," Cora breathed in a voice neither Emma or Regina had ever heard before, and the blonde stepped back happily as mother and daughter embraced, Regina sobbing over Cora's shoulder and mouthing a whole-hearted "thank you" to her new lover as she did so._

* * *

Ever one to ask things at inappropriate times, Henry brought it up at the dinner table.

Cora and Regina were having their first real meal as a mother and daughter, and Emma, Henry, Charming, and a very relieved and grateful Snow were eating together in their apartment. Emma didn't know what Neal and Rumpel were doing, but she imagined they might be awkwardly trying to catch up, now that Rumpel was healing thanks to Regina's magic and Neal had warmed to his father just a little bit in his almost-dying moments.

"So, you told my mom you love her, huh?" he asked, an obnoxiously over-sized smile on her face.

Charming choked on his burger as Snow's wine came back up through her nose and Emma dropped her very full fork onto the floor with a messy clatter.

Henry merely sat there, seeming to enjoy the chaos as his grandparents recovered and Emma swept under the table to hide her burning red cheeks and also clean up her spill.

She smacked his leg lightly under the table and he looked down with an infuriatingly large and Regina-esque smile.

"Like mother, like son," she muttered, in response to which his grin only broadened.

"Well, did you?"

She narrowly avoided banging her head on her way back to her seat as she noticed that the coughing and choking from above had stopped. Her parents were, no doubt, awaiting an explanation for Henry's question.

_That's right guys, I'm in love with the Evil Queen! And she loves me back!_

_To the tower, young lady!_

She sighed.

"Yes, Henry, I told your mom that I love her." She chanced a peek at Snow and Charming's faces. They were as she'd expected. Charming's face was white, Snow's bright red. An entire plateful of dinner could fit into each other their wide open mouths, and she was pretty sure Snow might pass out at any moment. In which case, Emma kind of wanted to grab her soup, because it was super good, and she didn't want Snow to ruin it by faceplanting into it. She resisted the temptation.

"_And_?" Henry squealed excitedly. Unfortunately, Snow seemed somewhat recovered.

"Yes, Emma. _And_?" Though her question sounded much different than Henry's.

Emma blanched.

"And... she loves me back, and we healed Cora together, and that's why she made Rumpel better, and uh - we didn't exactly get around to talking about this, Henry - "

Snow hid her face in her hands as she squeaked, "Don't need to know, Emma!"

Emma buried a grin and pressed on, "but I think the three of us are going to move in together. Like, you know, a family." She saw Charming's expression and amended, "Not that we're not all a family, but you know, think about it, if we all moved in together, well uh..." She began ticking people off on her fingers. "There's you, Regina, me, David, and Snow. Then there's Cora. And Rumpel. And Neal. Oh, and his fiancé, and then King Ge- "

"Alright Emma, alright, we get the picture," Charming stepped in, his hand none-too-subtly wrapping around Snow's for comfort under the table. He knew she, like him, wasn't all that surprised: they always looked at each other too intensely, fought each other with too much fervor, and saved each other with too much passion, to have nothing between them. He turned his attention to Henry.

"And you're happy with this, kid?"

Henry nodded contentedly, his mouth full of food.

Emma beamed.

"Well, holiday meals are going to be awkward," David muttered as he dug back into his burger.

Emma texted Regina under the table in what she thought was a subtle way.

"Their ok w it baby!"

Moments later, her phone buzzed and her face lit up, knowing the intensity of the affection underlying the response.

"If by that botched attempt to type in English, you meant, "They're okay with it, baby," then I am thrilled, Emma. My mother is also fairly pleased with the arrangement, if not a little hesitant about the fact that you are not, in fact, a king. Still, I think you being my princess compensates. xoxo"

_Screw happy endings,_ Emma thought, beaming around the table as Henry stole her phone and snorted with pleasure at the text. _This is our happy beginning_.


End file.
